Japanese cybersecurity firm Trend Micro is developing a new data center in Indonesia, which is designed to support national data-sovereignty goals and help the company serve financial-sector clients that face strict regulations on data handling.

Sapna Sumbly, Field Chief Indormation Security Officer for Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) at Trend Micro, said Indonesian institutions have become increasingly attentive to user-data protection in recent years. Growing geopolitical tensions have also pushed governments and regulators to prioritize data sovereignty and localization, including Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK).

According to Sapna, OJK imposes rigorous audits on banks and other financial institutions to ensure they secure proper approvals before sending any data to cloud providers outside the country. She declined to disclose the total investment allocated for the Indonesian data center, which is targeted to begin operations no later than mid-2026.

“That’s one of the reasons we want our existing customers to feel confident that we support them on their journey − whether responding to regulators or complying with data and privacy rules,” she told Bisnis.com on Thursday, November 13, 2025.

By establishing a local data center, she added, Trend Micro aims to reassure Indonesian companies, especially in banking and financial services, that their data can remain within Indonesia.

Sapna emphasized that Indonesia is a key market for Trend Micro. While she did not provide specific growth figures, she noted the country’s strong potential, bolstered by more than 135 banks of varying sizes and government institutions actively pursuing digital transformation.

Trend Micro’s financial report shows total sales of ¥202 billion (Rp21.86 trillion) in third quarter (Q3) 2025, flat compared with the same period last year. The Asia-Pacific region − including Taiwan, UAE, Singapore, Australia, and Indonesia − contributed around ¥77 billion (Rp8.4 trillion), remaining the company’s largest regional contributor, though year-on-year growth was modest at 1.1 percent.

“We see that the potential in this country is huge, and we can be a significant partner in that growth path,” Sapna said.

Trend Micro Indonesia Country Manager, Fetra Syahbana, added that the new data center aligns with Indonesia’s Personal Data Protection (PDP) law, which mandates that key data must reside within the country. He stressed that financial institutions, in particular, are prohibited from sending customer-transaction data abroad.

“With a local data center, financial-service companies with strict regulations no longer need to worry about placing their data with Trend Micro,” Fetra said. “This reflects our long-term commitment to supporting customers across Indonesia − whether in banking, telecommunications, the public sector, or government.”